Well, it looks like I screwed up! I had a neighbor over who is a car guy and we help each other out. We were looking at my front hood and I said...lets look at the alignment and tell me what you think. Long story short, I pulled off the weather strip and we closed the hood. The drivers side went down farther than the passenger side. No big deal until I tried to open it and the drivers side won't release. I found the emergency pull for that side and it wouldn't release on the first tug. The second tug and the cable broke. I've worked a cloth under the corner of the hood to give a tug while releasing the lever and nothing! I am in desperate need of some ideas! I'm supposed to go on a 10hr drive on Saturday and this will ground me as I have no weather strip on the hood. <HELP>! I'm pretty sure that the cone went all the way down and is pretty much locked tight. The only thing that I can think of is to cut the fiberglass from underneath of the locking mechanism (through the wheel well) and try to work it from the bottom. ARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JIM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Oh, this might suck. Have you tried pushing down, pulling the release cable and then pulling up? That's my best suggestion so far. I'll go out to the garage and see if any inspiration comes to me looking at mine.
Oh yeah....tried that. Also tried pushing down/pushing on angles and pulling up with a little force with the towel wedged under the corner. It ain't moving! I'm afraid that the cone went all the way down and its STUCK! I found a post in the archives from 2003 where an owner had to cut the fiberglass like I'm thinking. I'm really frustrated over this as you can imagine! JIM
Where is the cable broken? Can you cut the sheathing down to get to that end and yank with some pliers?
Could the drivers side be wedged down deeper and off angle because the passenger side is now released? Is the emo cable broken but the primary one still working? If yes to both have you tired latching the passenger side or if the passenger side will open unscrew the plunger off the hood all together. Then get 3 people. Push the passenger side down to the level of the driver compressing the weatherstrip to make sure the driver is not cocked in the hole. Then pull the primary release and wiggle the driver side up. If this still does not work can you not only pull the primary release but also get a tool behind it and pull the primary cable for a bit more overtravel? The latch on the hood pin is really simple and can get stuck. Sometimes some careful judicious fist pounding or wrapping an orbital sander in a towel to vibrate directly over the hoodpin will help pop the pin lip off the internal catch.
The emergency cable came apart at its attachment point, or so it appears. The primary one still works. I've tried all kinds of gentile prying/pounding/shaking while opening the lever and pulling up on the corner with a towel. I've tried shifting the hood in various directions while doing the above....I think ill try removing some of the fiberglass and working it from below. As usual, ill take pics along the way and post them. DOH!!!!!! Jim
Stop try this first.. Have someone pull the release cable normally but tell them not to let it go. In other words holding the cable in the open position. While someone is holding the cable try to pull the hood up from the corner. She should pop.. When you pull the cable and let it go sometimes it goes back to the lock position. Holding the lock open will allow the hood to release.. If this does not work.. then go your route. Good luck R
Yes and the corallary to that is to not only hold open but pry the tag end of the cable and make it over travel. Also sometimes you can push the driver's side more closed and this will take pressure off the keepers that are engaged on the hood pin. A little squirt of wd40 won't hurt either as sometimes some lub help get you full travel. Good luck hope you don't have to cut.
Have someone carefully push DOWN on the hood while you pull the latch. It may have too much tension to release otherwise. Alternatively, you'll have to remove the splash panel in the wheel well to access the wiper motor, you should be able to see the latch and be able to reach it from there.
This happened to me on my GT4. I removed the front grill and undid the two front hinges. With the front hinges completely removed I had someone pull the cable while someone else gently pulled up, be carefull not to "bend" the hood! This will allow you to "move" the hood that fraction in order to pop it up out of the latch. That is if pulling and holding the cable doesn't work first. BE CAREFUL!
Well, I got it. Not exactly what I wanted, but it works now. I had a couple things going on. I would like to have done it JayGT4's way, but I don't think it would've worked. Here's why... The main cable had lost almost all of its tension, so it was BARELY opening the lever to release the hood. My guess is that it stretched/loosened just a little bit when I was first trying to pull on it to get it open. Even if I could've pivoted the hood, the cone was trapped in the hole. I ended up cutting the fiberglass from the wheel well directly below the lock mechanism. (There is a bubble in the wheel well, so I cut around that. ) Once it was all cut, I could see the bottom of the lock clear as day. The cone was pushed all the way down and over to one side. I had to use a pair of pliers to move the cone back to center while I opened the lock mechanism all the way and it popped up. I took the time to take the slack out of the cable and cleaned/lubed both locks. I'll need to polish/wax the hood again as I put some fine scratches in the drivers corner, but that is an easy fix and a very small price to pay not to have a bent hood or worse! Thanks for all the suggestions. I tried several, but in the end I had to cut. I'll have that piece patched back in soon and it will be as good as new. Special thanks to my 7yr old Daughter for helping me pull the hood release while I got the hood open. She also removed the front wheel and helped me put the lugs back in. What a trooper! JIM Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Glad it worked out for you. I know the sinking feeling when you pull on that cable and nothing happens! It's a good reminder for all of us to check our cables and latches regularly.
Stuck hood latch...inconvenient Cutting wheel well...mildly traumatic Quality time with 7 year old daughter...PRICELESS!! (as is that smile!) Bob
Jimbo, she's a cutie.....your daughter I mean. With her help I'm glad it all worked out. Now take her out for ice cream! Sir Skip
Jim, Your daughter looks very happy, and I'm sure a pic of your face would reflect a similar emotion! Maybe it is a good idea to not fiberglass the hole shut, but to try and put a rubber bung in there should the situation re-occur.
Glad to see you resolving that issue.. Nice jack... I hope you were using jack stands? They are always a must - even if it is for 2 seconds.. R
We had fun doing this together. Both my daughters love cars and especially Ferraris. My oldest (9yrs) was at Grandma's last night, so it was just Carly and I. Fun times! She is now on a camping trip with Mom and her best friend. Oh to be 9 again! JIM
SO, is all of this going to be 'properly disclosed' if'n you ever sells the car? ? Might wanna have the kiddo sign the paperwork for witness/verification purposes...
The internet has really changed the tools available to a car buyer. Really, an Fchatter's car history is really here for a botential buyer to find. Search for the serial number, find the owner and start going through their posts. You'll see great drives, maintenance questions, issues with the car and their resolution. We are documenting our cars here for all to see like has been done never before. Good or bad? I don't know yet. A 30 year old car is going to have some repairs. Be more suspicious if the owner says otherwise. The overall quality of the care and repair is far more important than some failure it may have had.
I would have no problem buying a car with a little fiberglass patch in lieu of hacked up and repaired bonnet.
You obviously have not seen any of my threads. I probablly have one of the most fully 'disclosed' car on FerrariChat. EVERYTHING that I do to it is accompanied by pics/posts/comments. I do it for 2 reasons. One is to 'Pay it forward' as thanks to those who have graciously helped me and second is so that there are never any stories with my GT4. What you see (as long as you can read FChat) is what you get. It's gonna be a VERY LONG time before I sell it though. This car is WAYYYYY too much fun! To answer your question....Absolutely! I'll even post pics of the patching as its done. JIM
